When a fish takes a hook and starts to run, a very rapid pay out of the line under some resistance is highly desirable. This resistance is commonly referred to as “drag” and its purpose is to prevent the reel from overrunning (minimum drag) plus adding resistance (maximum drag) to a running fish as well as to tire the fish and enable the fisherman to reel in the fish before it takes off for a subsequent run, the procedure being repeated until the fish is brought in and landed or escapes.
It is known to provide a drag mechanism between the spool and its carrier that allows the spool to rotate relatively freely in one direction with respect to the carrier while in the opposite direction of rotation a resistance is imparted to the spool's rotation. Typically, the drag is provided by axially clamping the spool, and there are many known methods of accomplishing this. For example, the spool may be clamped using washers, drums, or disc brake systems.
It is also highly desirable to have a manually adjustable dynamic drag mechanism in addition to the static drag. When fighting large, powerful fish, it is common for the fish to take hundreds of yards of line. A manual levered drag allows a smooth increase in drag against the run, which shortens the run and more quickly tires the fish. In the event the fish jumps or surges, the levered additional drag may be released instantly by releasing the lever, therefore not allowing the line to be broken.
Traditionally, users have added additional drag by placing the palm of their hand on the spool and adding or reducing the amount of force applied against the spool. This method, however, suffers from several known problems. For example, there is a high risk of injury to the user's hand as a result of the spool spinning very quickly.
It has been attempted to provide a fishing reel which has both a manually adjustable static drag brake and a manually engagable brake for selectively adding resistance to the spool. These reels typically use a button or a knob and are difficult to use and suffer from several disadvantages. A major problem with the known reels is that the user cannot adjust the total drag quickly and accurately enough while fighting a fish. While fighting a fish, it is often imperative that the user be able to very quickly and accurately adjust the total amount of drag (e.g., if a fish jumps, a user must be able to almost instantly adjust the total drag). Because of the difficulty in accessing the known reels, as well as the inability of the user to adequately judge how much drag is being added or reduced, the total amount of drag is often not correct and results in too much or too little total drag. This has lead users to simply use the known drag mechanisms as a static drag.
Yet another problem is that the button/knob is positioned on the side of the reel. While fighting a strong fish, it is often necessary to have both hands holding the rod/reel while simultaneously being able to dynamically adjust the total drag. Having the button/knob on the side of the reel requires a user to remove one of his/her hands from the rod/reel and place it on the side of the reel where the user cannot generate any strength. As a result, these reels in essence actually employ two static drag mechanisms.
When fishing for multiple types/sizes of fish, the fisherman often needs to be able to quickly add greatly varying amounts of resistance. For example, when fishing for small fish, the user may want to add 3–5 lbs. of additional drag while in contrast, when fishing for larger fish the user may want to add 10–15 lbs. of additional drag. Unfortunately, there is no way to easily change the leverage exerted by the button so as to change to amount of drag a certain amount a given amount of hand pressure will generate. As a result, it is difficult for a user to know how much force to exert on the button to add a given amount of additional drag. Moreover, because the leverage of the button is fixed, the fishing reel is not suitable for fishing for a wide variety of fish because the leverage added will be either too high (in which case a small amount of pressure exerted on the button will generate too much additional drag) or too low (in which case the user will not be able to add enough additional drag). Yet another problem associate with the use of a button is that it is difficult for a user to use, especially when the user is wearing gloves.
Another problem associated with the known reels which have both a manually adjustable static drag brake and a manually engagable brake is that there is no way to set the maximum total drag. All fishing line has a maximum line strength or test. When the force exerted on the fishing line (i.e., the combination of the force exerted by the fish and the total drag added by the reel) exceeds the maximum strength of the fishing line, the line is liable to break resulting in the fish escaping. Accordingly, it is important that while adding the manually engageable drag (especially in combination with the a static drag) that the user does not add too much additional drag such that the total drag exceeds the strength of the fishing line. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that the known reels utilize a button for adding the manually engageable brake which is difficult to use and difficult to add a precise amount of resistance.
Another known type of fishing reel includes a lever for reduce spool backlash. During the casting process, line is left off the spool at a high rate. Because the line is wound around the spool, the spool rotates very quickly as the line is left off. This rotation generates momentum that results in the spool rotating even after the end the fishing line has stopped moving. With a normal real, this additional rotation results in excess line being let out which may become tangled and must, at a minimum, be wound back up. On a fly fishing reel, however, this backlash is not a problem because the line is drawn off the spool prior to casting, thus the spool does not rotate during the casting process.
Accordingly, what is needed is a fishing reel in which the total maximum drag can be set such that the total drag does not exceed the strength of the fishing line. The fishing reel should preferably have both an adjustable static drag as well as a manually adjustable dynamic drag. Furthermore, what is needed is a fishing reel that is easily operated such that the user can quickly and easily adjust the both the static and the dynamic drag, even while wearing gloves. The fishing reel should have an adjustable drag to input force ratio allowing the fisherman to apply greatly varying amounts of added resistance.